The Dance
by AlwaysHopelessRomantic95
Summary: Rumbelle future one-shot fic. Belle, a dancer, teaches her young daughter to dance.


"No, more like this," Belle said with a smile before turning a perfect pirouette, her blue dress fanning out around her. When she was done, she looked down at her daughter with an indulging smile and said, "now you try."

Rose returned her mom's smile with a brilliant one of her own and spun in a circle, attempting to pull up one of her legs but tumbling over in the process. A brief flash of worry clouded Belle's face as her little girl fell, but she was relieved when she heard her daughter still giggling as she rolled over on the floor.

Belle laughed and stooped down to pick her up and pretended to make a fuss of smoothing out Rose's dress.

"I don't think I did it right," Rose giggled, running a slightly dirty had through the brown curls that matched her mother's.

Belle took her daughter's hand out of her hair and brushed the dirt off it, laughing. "Not quite," she admitted, "but you'll get there."

Belle loved teaching her daughter how to dance. She had loved dancing since she was a child, and was delighted to find that little Rose was as enthusiastic about it as she was.

Standing up, Belle held out her hand to Rose and said, "here, I have an idea." Rose smiled up at her mom and took her hand. "This is how I learned to twirl," Belle said, sounding slightly nostalgic. She held Rose's hand up in the air and said with a smile, "now, you spin, and I'll keep you from falling over."

"Okay!" Rose giggled, and began twirling. She twirled and twirled until she got dizzy, and then she had to stop. When she stopped spinning, the rest of the world didn't and as Belle let go of her hand she lurched sideways into her mom's waiting arms.

"Dizzy darling?" Belle laughed, catching Rose as she fell and righting her.

"Uh huh," Rose said, putting a hand on her forehead. Only once the world stopped spinning did she realize she'd done it. "I didn't fall over that time!" She announced proudly! And then, with some chagrin, added, "not while I was twirling at least."

Belle grinned at the pride in her daughter's face. "Nope you didn't! Told ya you would get there!"

Rose returned her mother's grin before asking, "did you do this with your mom when you were little?"

Belle nodded. Her smile went from indulgent to nostalgic as she remembered days spent dancing around the castle with her mother.

"Your grandma taught me to dance," Belle said fondly, a faraway look in her eyes.

"And now you're teaching me," Rose said happily.

Belle's focus returned to the present and she smiled. "Yep," she agreed. "Your grandma would be very proud of you."

Rose beamed proudly, wondering what it would be like to have a grandma, and what her mom had been like at her age. She couldn't quite picture her mom at seven, but she figured she must have been a lot like her.

"Let's do it again," Rose suggested, and Belle took her hand indulgently and let her spin. Rose spun around and around until she was dizzy once again, but this time she'd misjudged the direction and ended up falling away from her mother and found herself sitting in the floor.

Belle hurried over to her, once again making sure she was okay. She picked her up and smoothed her dress out again, and when she met her daughter's eyes they both started laughing.

And so, when Rumple returned home from the shop that day, he found his wife and daughter in a heap on the floor laughing.

"Looks like you two had fun without me," he said with a grin, mock hurt in his voice. Both girls started when they heard the voice from the doorway into the kitchen, and Rose broke out of her mother's arms and ran to her father.

"Papa!" she said, smiling as he bent down and she wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. As she did, he wrapped his arms around her and picked her up, laughing as she squeaked with happiness.

Belle got up out of the floor, smoothing her own dress, and went to greet her husband with an affectionate kiss on the cheek. "Welcome home," she said, as if he'd been gone for a few days and not a few hours.

"It's good to be home," Rumple said, giving her one of his happy, genuine smiles. "I trust the two of you kept yourself entertained in my absence?"

Belle laughed, and before she could reply, Rose burst out in excitement, "Mom's teaching me how to dance!"

Rumple shared a meaningful look with Belle before returning his gaze to their daughter. "Oh," he said, purposefully matching Rose's excitement, "Is she now?"

"Uh huh," Rose said, nodding emphatically. "She's teaching me like her mom taught her!"

Belle could hear the pride in her daughter's voice, and she smiled to herself, glad to know that, in this small way at least, she could honor her mother through her own child.

"Well," Rumple said, bringing Belle back to the present. "Let's see what you've learned." He sat Rose down on her feet and snapped his fingers, and a beautiful melody filled the room with music. He held his hand out to his daughter, smiling. "Care to dance, Rose?" He asked.

Rose giggled and delightfully took her father's hand. They spun around in circles, Rose laughing in glee and Rumple's heart filling with joy. When he slowed down, Rose stepped up on his shoes, and Rumple danced around, letting her ride.

He changed the music to something a little faster, and then picked Rose up under her arms and spun her around. She laughed even harder, and Belle, still in the doorway, leaned up against the doorjamb and watched them, a grin of pure happiness on her face.

As she watched her two favorite people in the world dance around their living room, she felt as if her heart would burst from her chest. It was inexplicable, the happiness these two brought her. _This is how it was always meant to be,_ she thought. _We were meant to be a family._ And her family couldn't have been any more perfect.


End file.
